Flexible rubber overshoe



Jan. 19, 1937. H. MALM 2,068,238

FLEXI BLE RUBBER OVERSHOE Filed Dec. 21, 1935 INVENTOR flf/VRY MAL/V ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 19, 1937 I UNITED STATESL'PATENT OFFICE FLEXIBLE RUBBER OVERSHOE Henry Malm, New York, N. Y. 7 Application December 21, 1935, Serial No. 55,539 2 Claims. (Cl. 367.3)

This invention relates to rubbers employing sole her will be laid upon the core 1, or a number or and heel portions and an upper body part for such strips or sheets, to substantially build up or partially enveloping or covering a shoe upper; form about the core I the required amount of and the object of the invention is to provide an rubber to be molded into the sole and heel por- 5 article of apparel of the class described composed tions of the resulting article, after which the die 5 entirely of rubber whereby all portions of the or mold part 6 is placed in position. article are capable of expansion and contraction, At this time, it will be understood that the surand further, whereby the article may be folded or faces Illa, Illb of. the cavity l0 forming the lower rolled into a relatively small compact package surfaces of the sole and heel portion of the-re- 10 facilitating the placement of. a pair of rubbers suiting article may be engraved or otherwise 10 in a pocket of a garment, pocketbook or the like formed to produce the desired rough contour or to carry the same when not in use upon the shoes tread on the sole and heel portions of the reof a wearer; and with these and other objects sulting article. The intermediate surface I00 in view, the invention consists in an article of may also have thereon such markings as to apply l5 manufacture of the class described which is proa trade-mark, name or other advertising or deduced in accordance with the method more fully scriptive literature including a designation of size hereinafter described. which will appear on the resulting article.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following It will be understood that the die parts 5 and specification, of which the accompanying drawing 6 will be heated in any desired manner and will forms a part, in which the separate parts of my be held together under pressure during the vul- 20 improvement are designated by suitable reference canization of the rubber disposed within the characters in each of the views, and in which: cavities 9 and ill around the core I. Under this Fig. 1 is a side view of two die or mold parts treatment, the rubber or'rubber compound emillustrating the general contour of the parting ployed will form a homogeneous article upon the line of said parts. core l, and when suflicient time has been allowed 25 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through to effect complete vulcanization, the upper part the die or mold parts shown in Fig. 1 and dia- 6 of the mold is raised, the core l is then regrammatically illustrating the method of using moved from the part 5 and the resulting rubber the same. is removed from the core l, after which the arti- Fig. 3 is a side view of arubber formed from cle thus formed is trimmed to remove any flare 30 the dies or molds shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and, or excess rubber that may prevail along the part- Fig. l, is a sectional view of. a container showing line defined by the two die or mold parts ing apair of rubbers compactly folded therein. and around the opening formed in the top of In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, I have diagramthe resulting article. At this time, the article matically illustrated the separate parts of a mold may also be finished by the application of a 35 or die employed for forming my improved 'rubfinishing coating, such for example as a coating bers. In said figures, 5 represents the lower die of lacquer. or mold part; b the upper part; and l the core. In considering Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, it Suitable dowel or alining pins 8 will be provided will appear that the core as well as the mold 40 for bringing the cavity 9 of the part 5 and the cavities or impressions 9 and II) are so arranged 40 cavity it of the part 6 in proper registeririg-alineas to mold the finished article or rubber in a ment. The core i has similar dowel or alinecurved contour, that is to say, the back of the merit pins ii for properly positioning and alining heel of the rubber as well as the toe portion of the core within the cavities 9 and it. the sole are raised with respect to .the central The pins M will be preferably attached to the portion of the rubber, the purpose of which is 45 core l and enter apertures it in the part 5, which to shorten the upper edges it of the side walls apertures open through the lower surface it of it of the resulting rubber it, a side view of the part 5 to facilitate the insertion of other pins which appears in Fig. 3 of the drawing so that or tools to act as means for ejecting the core from when the rubber is mounted upon the shoe of the the part 5 after a rubber has been formed thereon. wearer, the side edges it centrally of the rubber 50 In the operation of forming or'molding a ruband the side walls lb thereof will fit snugly upon her, sheets, strips or particles of rubber are first both side surfaces of the shoe. By reason of this placed upon the side walls to of the cavity 9, manner of molding the rubber, the toe portion after which the core i will be mounted in .posill and heel portion it will fit snugly upon the tion, and then a preformed sheet or strip of rubtoe and heel portions of the shoe, especially with respect to the. upper and lower surfaces thereof. The sole I! of the rubber will be considerably thicker than the rubber upper, especially bearing in mind the roughened tread portion "a thereof, and the heel 20 is preferably made heavier than the sole I! and also includes a roughened tread 20a. The sole and heel join the upper or side walls IS in rounded edges 19b and 20b which project slightly beyond the surface of the wall ii.

In Fig. 3 of the drawing, I have indicated at 2| a dot and dash line extending longitudinally of the side edges of the sole and heel I9, 20 and through the arch of the rubber; and this line represents the parting line Ila between the die or mold parts 5 and 6 as is indicated in Fig. 1 of 'the drawing. This method of forming rubbers will not only simplify the manufacture thereof but will also enhance the appearance of the resulting article by maintaining the trimming line, above referred to as the parting line 2|, substantially upon the sole and heel of the rubber. This eliminates the defacing of the upper or side walls l5 of the rubber, as would otherwise be experienced.

By forming articles of apparel of the class described in the manner herein set forth, by reason of the fact that the product is composed entirely of rubber, the same can be produced in relatively few sizes, for example, large, medium and small for men sizes and the same for women. and large, medium and small for the children sizes. In addition to the extensibility of the upper structure of the rubber, the sole and heel of the rubber are also capable of extension to fit different sizes as well as different contours of a shoe.

Rubbers produced in the manner described will be comparatively light in weight and may be compactly rolled or folded together as indicated at l6a, Hib, Fig. 4 of the drawing, and placed in a suitable container, pouch or wrapper 23 in said figure, This container 23 is preferably composed of rubber or of waterproof material so that a pair of wet rubbers may be placed in the container 23 and then placed in a pocket of a garment, pocketbook or handbag for storage when not in use.

From the foregoing, it will appear that my improved article of manufacture will encourage the removal of rubbers from the feet of the wearer on the many occasions where rubbers have otherwise been worn indoors where the protection is not required, causing discomfort to the wearer.

This encouragement is primarily due to the fact that a pair of rubbers may be folded or rolled into a very compact and non-bulky package.

My invention is not limited to the particular form and contour of the rubber herein shown and described which is primarily a childrens or mans rubber, asthe same may be applied to rubbers for women and furthermore, the styles and contour of the respective rubbers may be changed to suit the fancy or desires of a manufacturer.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In footwear, a rubber for mounting upon the shoe of a wearer, said rubber comprising a unitary molded body composed only of freely flexing relatively highly extensible rubber throughout, said rubber body consisting of a normally relatively fiat bottom having thick sole and heel portions and a thinner shank and upper part, said upper part being continuous with and extending entirely around the peripheral edge of the rubber bottom and forming an upper shoe engaging portion, the outer peripheral edge of the sole and heel portions of the rubber bottom extending beyond said upper part, and said relatively high extensibility of the rubber adapting the same to shoes having a range in many sizes and contours.

2. In footwear, a rubber for mounting upon the shoe of a wearer, said rubber comprising a. unitary molded body composed throughout of freely flexing rubber, said rubber body consisting of a normally relatively flat bottom having thick sole and heel portions and a thinner shank and. upper part, all of relatively highly extensible rubber throughout, said upper part being continuous with and extending entirely around the peripheral edges of the rubber bottom and forming an upper shoe engaging portion, the outer peripheral edges of the sole and heel portions of the rubber bottom extending beyond said upper part, said relatively high extensibility of the rubber adapting the same to shoes having a wide range in size and contour, and the side walls of the upper shoe engaging part of the rubber being sufficiently short in length relatively to the length of the bottom so that when not in use the ends of the heel and toe portions of the rubber bottom are supported by side walls in an upwardly 0 extended position with respect to the normal 5 floor engaging portions of the sole and heel.

HENRY MALM. 

